Yves here. This article includes talking about Peter Thiel’s not-so-secret society that will gather the wise together as they are the ones who will prevail in the coming chaos. Erm, if Thiel and his self-proclaimed elite aren’t thinking too hard about how to save the incompetents in modern medicine (just thinking! robot-assisted surgery! chemo! stents! joint replacements! lots of drugs! saline drips! vaccines!) they’re not taking the apocalyptic future seriously.
By Joscha Abels, Postdoctoral Researcher, Institute of Political Science, University of Tübingen, and Juliana Tappe Ortiz, Postdoctoral Researcher, Institute of Political Science, University of Tübingen. Originally published on The Conversation
EPA/JIM LO SCALZO
It was recently revealed that tech billionaire Peter Thiel runs a secret organization that includes CEOs and billionaires and political leaders. Members reportedly include figures such as NATO chief Alexus Grynkewich and US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
Thiel, a German-American entrepreneur and activist, was the founder of PayPal and the software company Palantir. The revelations about the community – known as “The Conversation” – attracted widespread attention. And Thiel himself gave a series of private talks in San Francisco this year, where he framed political and technology issues biblically.
Thiel said he believes humanity faces existential threats from nuclear war or runaway Artificial Intelligence (AI) that could lead to “Armageddon”. In such an end-times era, so the thinking goes, only the most intelligent – like those in a secret society – can survive.
Thiel is an extreme case, but it is not alone. Some powerful people in politics and technology view today’s world from the point of view of a civilizational crisis and impending doom.
The Politics of the End Times
Over the past centuries, political leaders have often instilled fear of decline and fall. In ancient times, Augustus, the first emperor of Rome, supported the story that Rome suffered from moral decay to justify concentrating power in his hands. Yet the current moment of “end-times politics” is different on many fronts. Threats, real and imagined, spread faster than ever, spread by social media algorithms that favor anger and conspiracy.
In Silicon Valley, influential people often discuss AI as a human salvation or doomsday event. Palantir CEO Alex Karp described the AI race as “our Oppenheimer moment”, when the world’s rich nations must decide whether to stop the development of dangerous technologies or seize the power that goes with them.
However, this trend extends beyond eccentric tech circles. The narrative of the end times has entered the halls of state, as politicians seize this opportunity to spread radical politics.
The U.S. military has filed a number of complaints, saying its administration was using the Bible’s end-times rhetoric to justify the U.S. attack on Iran. It is reported that their leadership was headed for Armageddon, considering the war in Iran as a necessary step in bringing about the return of Christ.
This is happening in a context where the Trump administration has been treating the Christian right, especially evangelicals, as a major “spiritual war” region. America’s Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, in particular portrayed himself as God’s tool in the ongoing war of Christian civilization.
It is reported that Hegseth and other people in the middle were joining their doors with evangelicals and Christian Zionists. These situations can be considered as elements of a major revolution, where political and corporate leaders mix their interpretation of Christianity with beliefs about the supremacy of the US.
Strong Mind, Strong Politics
Trump’s threats against Iran, including his declaration in April that “an entire civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back”, show the consequences of this myth-making. It paves the way for radical politics in the US, and beyond.
The Trump administration says Europe is facing continental decline and “de-civilization” due to immigration and European integration. In a similar vein, Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK, has sounded the alarm about the UK facing “social collapse”.
Research has shown that people are more willing to support extraordinary measures when they believe they are facing an imminent threat. It has also been shown that the attitudes of political leaders are very important in times of uncertainty. The invisible effects of technological and environmental change create dangers and concerns – and the danger is that leaders treat opponents, civil society or small groups as mythical enemies.
The politics of the end times then becomes a struggle over the meaning of the greatest threat to humanity. We are in a time when people are facing many dangers. These worldviews ultimately determine how national politics and geopolitics evolve.
There is another reason to pay attention. During most of the modern era, the most influential people were elected leaders and state officials. Today, a new type of leader has emerged: technology executives with wealth and media influence. Their influence can run deep into the empire – exemplified by Elon Musk’s role at the US Department of Labor and SpaceX’s key role in US global strategy.
For a long time, scholars defined global politics in terms of institutions and structural relations, and globalization in terms of corporate interests. Now, the future of both increasingly depends on the psychology of a small political and corporate group.
The leaders of the end times will magnify some threats while downplaying others. Often, technology managers will establish links between the successful future and the need for disruptive innovation. US capitalist Marc Andreessenhas been a promoter of “technology accelerationism” – the idea that uncontrolled technological development is the only way to overcome the world’s problems.
The challenge is to distinguish between real threats and narratives that heighten fear while obscuring pressing problems. At a time when the debate is filled with doomsday predictions, it may be more important than ever to focus on evidence-backed risks – the climate crisis and the erosion of democratic systems, for example.
On the question of whether technology can overcome climate change and bring peace to the world, it would be wise not to take the word of the tech billionaires. After all, Thiel recently hedged his bets between a bunker in New Zealand and a refuge in Javier Milei’s Argentina.
